Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Happy New Year!

May 2023 be a butterfly filled extravaganza!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

January 2023

Hopefully not too long to wait for the new butterfly season to start!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Happy New Year to you Wurzel, I'll be on a quest for Butterflies this year Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie Did you see which species I chose for January

The Devenish 20-04-2022
This was going to be a quick walk but I had reasonable hopes for seeing some butterflies as the Grizzlies were out at Martin Down and the weather had improved with sunny intervals forecast. Indeed things started well with plenty of action in the car park as we were getting ready for the off. A Brimstone unceremoniously plonked itself down on the corner by the gate, a Small White sailed up the rise, through the car park and away up the side of the Down; and a Holly Blue fluttered about in the treeline, dancing on the breeze like a scrap of windblown paper.

As we broke through the cover and set off across the Orchid Meadow things took a turn for the quieter with only a female Brimstone away in distance on the other side of the Meadow. Once the steep slope was conquered we bowled along through the Beech hanger but there was a large group of children playing on and in the trees so we didn’t find any butterflies until we were on the back path where a Green-veined White and two Brimstones patrolling along the ride. The Green-veined White stopped and sat for its portrait but the others had other things pressing on their mind and so with a few grab shots we pressed on also.

The next stretch took us along through the avenue of trees but past the Wood Pile where an aged Small Tort was living out its final days and along the drive the Whites flew victoriously having usurped the Vanessids for dominance of the (butterfly) skies. Two or three Brimstones bustled about as did a Green-veined White, only more weakly while the Orange-tip bombed on by powerfully. Away across the field we went and then we turned left following the track hemmed in on either side by the tall hedge. A Comma was there to greet us and further along a Specklie did it’s best to avoid my lens. When we came out the claustrophobic foliage we were meet by fresh air and the sun and a few whites too, playing in the sunbeams. I watched as a brace of Peacocks battered each other, locked in their spiralling death dance whilst the Green-veined White shied away and the two Brimstones seemed to go out of their way to avoid each other – like similar poles from two magnets.

The journey across the field, back through the woods to the wooden steps was quiet until right at the bottom when a Holly Blue went up from the deck. It went down again a few more times and looked to be seeking sap to soak up but it was very flighty, in fact almost too flighty and most of the images later went in the bin. Then we were back at the car and whilst it had been a pleasant walk in terms of butterflies it was quite disappointing. The trend this year (and this may change of course) seems to be one of ‘slow burn’; the butterflies are having a bit of a lie-in.

A few butterflies
So continues the slow build
When will the peak come?
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 19-05-2022

Whilst I was out setting Pitfall Traps with the year 7’s I watched a Small White flutter over the wild and overgrown Pits. I wondered then if now might be the time to venture forth and examine the far hedge and start the ‘summer’ transects? With the Traps set on the ‘mown’ section we then moved to the corner of the fields in amid the ‘Unmown’ grass and a Specklie flew out from the trees and gave its territory the once over. I took this as a sign that the answer to the previous questions was a resounding ‘yes’ and so when I had a free lesson later, rather than sitting and marking I took my camera for a walk along the back-boundary hedge.

The walk through the tussocks and long grass at the Pits themselves didn’t throw up any Large Skippers unfortunately but did give my shoes a clean, there’s nothing like the sparkle after washing them in fresh dew and it wasn’t until I’d walked through the gap in the trees to the corner of the field that I saw anything of note. In fact two butterflies turned up at once – there was a fast moving Specklie which was swiftly followed by a silvery, jinking Holly Blue. The first flew over the top of the Bramble disappearing from view in the field behind whilst the latter carried on along the hedge. I tried to follow it but to no avail as it went up and up and I lost sight of it among the branches at the top of the trees. I didn’t mind too much because the Specklie had returned and so I tried for that only for something even better to show up, a wonderfully fresh Red Admiral! I only spent a matter of seconds at each flower mass but with a little careful stalking and some guess work I managed to get into the correct place a couple of times and reel off a few shots.

I then walked all the way to the end of the hedge and turned back and on the return journey I met the Red Admiral coming the other way but it nipped over the hedge before I got a chance to get a single shot off. I consoled myself with spotting a Silver-Y and then an Orange-underwing Moth. When I was almost back at the corner I spotted the Specklie, at least I think it was ‘the’ as a second darter out form the bushes and they had a bit of a scrap around the rusty old goal posts. The victor returned to the favoured spot and the vanquished disappeared from view. Not a bad start and it won’t be too long until the Large Skippers are out…

Maybe a slow start
But at least it has started
Back to the back hedge!
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

I did, that's rubbing it in Wurzel I've heard the Grizzlies are bit scarce in Kent now, hope fully I'll get to see one this year, I missed out on a lot with having things done last year, hope to make up for it this year Goldie

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie Sorry I didn't mean it as a 'rubbing in' more of an image for manifestation

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Bentley Wood 29-05-2022

On the previous day I'd had low expectations and no hope but still caught up with some good stuff…today my expectations were again low but I had and plenty of hope…but hope wasn’t enough and the expectations turned into a reality.

Now was the time to be looking for Small Pearls and so I headed over to Bentley Wood with fingers and toes crossed that they might have somehow bounced back after several years of considerable decline. I started off doing a circuit of the EC, working along the paths and scanning the tops of the vegetation all the way along and round at the end section ending up in the middle by the bench. I’d seen a few bits and bobs (flies and Hoverflies the odd bee) but nothing butterfly wise. I wondered if it was still a little early and so the little spark of hope continued aflame and I pressed on to the Back Track. As I walked I noticed that the wardens had mown path ways through the vegetation in the hope I supposed of encouraging people to stick to the paths and trample the vegetation in their attempts to get photos – a little too late? Hopefully not…When I walked up the Back Track all was still quiet and nothing of note appeared and so upon reaching the tree line at the top of the track I turned and started back down and the conditions must have switched to ‘just enough’ as I spotted a Speckled Yellow. Finally a butterfly made an appearance but alas it was a Small Heath and not a Small pearl. Then right at the far end another butterfly went up and for a fraction of a second I wondered if it was a Small Pearl but the colour was all wrong and I had to remind myself not to let my hope cloud my judgement. I did peel my eyes even further back though.

I then wended my way back into the EC to check out the rush-like grass in the damper sections that the Small Pearls seem to prefer. Again I kept to the tiny trackways that criss-crossed the vegetation and after much searching I managed to turn up a Mother Shipton and a second faded and worn Pearl. As I knelt down to photograph it I wondered why they couldn’t sit so posed when they’re really fresh?

Worn Pearls weren’t what I was hoping for and so once I figured I had enough shots I left it clinging to the leaf and tried my luck on the other side of the fence as there was also plenty of the rush grass there as well. I did find a Pearl but despite the cloud coming in quicker and quicker and the sun was spending more and more time masked and bound the Pearl was still motoring about. The cloud cover reached a tipping point and brought the Pearl down for long enough to grab a few shots and a Green-veined White flopped down on the other side of me too.

With the cloud winning out its battle against the sun, successfully smothering it I wandered back along the paths of the EC the tiny flame of hope for the Small Pearls all but extinguished and the eventual rain when it came put paid to even the most miniscule embers. Trying to dodge the huge rain drops I beat a hasty retreat to the car to mull over what to do next over a coffee. In the end the rain didn’t let up and so I retreated further, all the way home in fact. So no Small Pearls at Bentley anymore…
I set out in hope
Would the Small Pearls still be found?
Return in despair
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Hope some fresh vibrant Pearls are on your menu for the coming Spring.
Along with OT's you can say Spring has arrived with the first PBF sighting,
along with the Bluebells.
On a visit to the supermarket yesterday there was a mind boggling choice
of Easter eggs on display, which is about right for January these days!

Trevor.

[millerd]

A great shame to hear that you couldn't find any Small Pearls at Bentley in 2022, Wurzel. It's the place I first saw them, and I can remember an early evening not so many years ago when the Eastern Clearing was host to several dozen roosting butterflies. Such a pity they appear to have gone.

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Sorry to hear that the SPBF seem to have gone from Bentley Wood Wurzel. I have never been there but was under the impression that it was a well managed place...perhaps not, or the management targets other species and does not suit the small pearls ?

On a brighter note, that is a cracking shot of the Mother Shipton, an often difficult species to get close to and get a decent shot of.

Cheers,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Trevor The Pearls seem to be hanging on at Bentley and there are also a few sites in the New Forest but it's a shame about the Small Pearls as now I have a bit more of a drive to see them
Cheers Dave The local BC seem to think that they've gone but I live in hope that a few have been hiding and breeding in a distant corner of the wood
Cheers Neil They seem to have let it slip over the years that I've been going there and the Small Pearls that used to be all over the wood have gone it seems - I don;t think the fact that some were taken for another reintroduction scheme helped

Work 10-06-2022

Work had kept me busy at lunch for a while and the run of cloudy/sunny intervals hadn’t helped either – especially as it always seemed to be clouded over or raining from midday until 1pm? Anyway finally both work and weather relented and so I was able to head out to the school field. I wandered through the Pits, the grass coming along nicely at about waist height which suggest that the Marbled Whites and Ringlets wouldn’t be too far off. In the little cleared area by the old mower two Pyramidal Orchids were just coming up and a Small Tort buzzed me and shot off towards the Primary School. As I was starting to wade back into the grasses at the edge of the clearing a Large Skipper shot by and I thought that would be it and then it paused on one of the Thistles so I was able to get a shot or two.

I carried on and as I broke through the trees onto the Field proper a Specklie went up from its perch and as I watched it upset a second both of which then locked together and battling it out disappeared from view over the hedge. A Large Skipper was also sitting here as was a Meadow Brown – a first for the year for this site. As I wandered on along at the margin of the field it felt like the previous two butterflies had set the theme for the walk as I was accompanied by both and it felt like every few steps I was muttering Meadow Brown/Large Skipper followed by the ever-increasing number of said species. About half way along a Small heath flew across the path from the edge of the hedge into the longer grass of the meadow and the line of Bramble at the end offered an additional something different a Small Tort.

I turned around and started back counting the Large Skippers and Meadow Browns properly now that I’d gotten my eye firmly in. I was able to relocate the Small Tort as well and the Small Heath was in the same place it had been earlier. By the time I got back to the corner I’ve racked up 14 a piece of Large Skipper and Meadow Brown. Pleased with my haul I wandered back though the Pits looking forward to me lunch when a golden blur caught my eye. Something about it didn’t fit, it didn’t look large enough nor darker enough for a Large Skipper? Getting in closer I found that I had my first Small Skipper of the year!

A lunchtime trip out
Things are turning gold ’n brown
Surprise Small Skipper
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 14-06-2022

As I walked across to the Pits the sun beat down heavily and it finally felt like summer. As I started wading into the grass to try and find the path a Large Skipper greeted me, a Meadow Brown erupted like they do and a Small Skipper zipped off before I could get a photo. Once I’d located the path I made for the little clearing and a fresh Painted Lady shot past heading for the Primary School and so I I had a little look around. Another Pyramidal Orchid was coming up and the thistles were starting to flower – much to the delight of a Small Tort and a couple of Meadow Browns.

When I broke through the tree line the corner of the hedge was quiet today and so I continued my progress checking out the hedge as I went. The Meadow Browns and Large Skippers were very abundant and I quickly lost track of them and so decided that it was far too warm for that kind of effort so I counted anything else and filed both Large Skipper and Meadow Browns under ‘loads’. The patch of Bramble about half way along was alive with both species and also 3 Small Torts. At the end a brace of Small Heaths played in the sun and the patch of Bramble on the corner held a further three Small Torts.
The return walk seemed very similar but with an extra three Small Heaths scrapping across the path and then darting off into the wilds of the unmown meadow. When I was almost near the end of hedge my eye was drawn to an odd-looking Meadow Brown in the distance. It looked slightly darker and more uniform in colour than the other MBs and also flew differently, more consistently and with less ‘flap’. As I got nearer it finally dropped onto a leaf and I saw that it was my first Ringlet of the year. Unfortunately the warmth had gotten to it and it on only sat still long enough for a few record shots before leading me off on a merry dance along the remaining stretch of hedge. Still at least I know that they’re out and now I can try again if/when the weather breaks.

Normally I would retrace my footsteps exactly but as I neared the corner I spotted another odd-looking butterfly. It looked light brown/tan in colour as it flew and so I followed it along the edge of the Pits doing my best to keep up with it. When it went down I saw that it was a well worn Painted Lady, so worn in fact that the orange colour had faded to tan and the underside was looking shiny, undefined and greasy from the lack of scales. Whilst following it I’d almost run out of time and so I was forced to almost run to get back in time…not doing that again.

__________________________________________________________________________________

At the weekend I’d thought about going straight onto Daneways from work as I’d be almost half way there. However I’d looked at the weather and things looked good for Sunday hence I left all my gear at home…I shouldn’t have but I did, I checked the weather again and it had all changed and now the weekend looked terrible! In consolation I called in at The Devenish on the way home…

In the Orchid Meadow more Orchids had come out but the first thing that I saw was a plethora of Marbled Whites. There were flying about all over the place with some flowers holding two or three. It was a delight and cheered me right up. After a few shots I raced up the hill with my ten minute timer ticking away. There were more Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and the occasional faded blue/grey Common Blue. Then a big ginger beastie bombed past – every year when I see my first I’m always astonished at how fast DGFs can cut through the sky, I swear this one left a tiny rumble of sonic boom in its wake! Still I’d seen it and so it was on the Year List – making it a triple FFY day. As the DGF was long gone and I found it difficult to purchase on the steep slope in my work shoes I retired back to the Orchid Meadow and tried for a few more Marbled Whites. A Hummingbird Hawkmoth, looking somewhat lackluster busied itself around me for a bit and then with the timer ringing out that my time was up I started back to the car where my first H.Comma was waiting for me. It did a few passes, buzzing me and flying in closer and closer to make sure I wasn’t a threat and then it settled and opened up posing nicely at three-quarters open.

So not exactly the evening I’d hoped for but hopefully next week will be Large Blue week and you can’t grumble at three firsts for the year in such a short time.
First came the Ringlet
Next Marbs then the Dark Green Frit
Not too bad a day!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Work 17-06-2022
What with record temperatures due and glorious sun it was no surprise that the forecast for the weekend was cooler with rain and thick cloud – so my plans for Large Blues were scuppered…This meant that to get my butterfly fix oer the weekend I’d have to stay local, dodge showers and also risk heat exposure at lunch to check out the field today.

Up at the Pits I could feel the heat bouncing back at me from the path and any breeze was a momentarily welcome relief. The grasses on the way were quiet save the occasional swishing sound as the breeze toyed with their tops. At the Thistle patch there were a few Meadow Browns and one apiece of Large and Small Skipper. Only the former played nicely and feel beneath my lens, the later disappearing in an orange blur. As I tried to extract myself from the tangle of Thistles and Bramble without tearing my trousers or trampling the plants a Marbled White flew by – the first of the year for this site. Back in more open ground I managed to relocate the Marbled White but it was sticking to the shaded side of the field and seeking shelter lower down in amongst the vegetation.

I cut out through the trees and into the broiling sun. Only the hardiest or craziest butterflies were out on the open grass or sitting on the top of the hedge – most were on the shaded side or hiding under leaves out of the direct glare of the sun. I saw various bits and bobs as I progressed along the hedge, all the usual suspects -Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and the odd Small Heath but I only made it as far as the first section of Bramble. Again any butterflies that were out from the shelter of the depth of the hedge were clinging to the shaded sides of the hedge but a lone Painted Lady braved the full force of the suns warmth.

On the walk back a few Meadow Browns drifted out and then back into the shadows as did a Small Tort. I followed until it flew straight into the hedge and when I examined the point of entry it was gone and was probably still tunneling its way into the cool confines of the hedge by the time I was heading for home. Back at the Pits I couldn’t relocate the Marb but the Small Skipper sat a few times for me in between some frenetic runs or being buffeted about by the breeze. In the end I made my way back feeling that perhaps it was almost too hot?

Midday lunchtime walk
A Painted Lady aside
All were in the shade
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Very much enjoying your retrospective to the long sunny days of midsummer, Wurzel - particularly all those Large Skippers. I only see a handful local to me, but I always enjoy their feisty behaviour so seeing more of them would be terrific.

I do remember the heat from the 17th too, as I spent that day and the next sweltering down at Collard Hill with the Large Blues - I still reckon it's a bit nearer to you than Daneways is (though it does lack the refreshment facility the latter has... ).

Cheers,

Dave

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel ! , I'm enjoying your adventures and now we're into the S s, for our favourite shots it's nearly time to start looking out for the Butterflies

When the Sun came out these last couple of days it really warmed things up and I was surprised to see a Dragon fly , it was flying over the still wet grass, I tried to get a shot but it wasn't landing , it's been a couple of times since , I'm still trying hope fully it will land near the pond next time. ( that is )
if the Sun appears and it gets warmer, it's still cold here but that's better than the rain.Goldie

[Wurzel]

Messed up and somehow posted twice

[Wurzel]

Cheers Dave The Large Skipper is one of those 'value for money' butterflies round my way I do like Collard but my work is half way to Daneways so it means a saving in miles/petrol - I've just got to do a mad evening dash Plus as you say the pub is an added bonus
Cheers Goldie Hopefully the cold will knock all the parasites and butterfly zapping beasties on the head so we'll have a bumper year

Work 08-07-2022

It was another day at work – the weather that had been so good up until now became decidedly iffy – no doubt due to the fact that His Nibbs was in the offing! I watched outside the window while I taught as the clouds started to shift and ease slightly. One of the trees on the other side of the Tech Block seemed taller than usual and encouraged by my year 8’s I leant out of the window camera in hand and clicked a few shots. When I looked back at the images whilst the pupils progressed with their test I saw that it was taller due to a Red Kite perched atop the tree. Alas it was too much to hope that it would hang around there until lunch time and so I withdrew back into Teacher Mode.

Come lunchtime things were looking up weather wise as the sun had finally digested the cloud cover and I strolled across the small field towards the Pits with the temperature seemingly rising with each footstep. A Red Admiral passed me by and as I started to wade through the unmown area Meadow Browns fluttered weakly and Golden Skippers started buzzing and zipping about me. Most of these didn’t make it past the Smessex stage of identification but one or two revealed their true identity. On the other side of the large, now almost behemoth Bramble, I added a few Large Skippers and Ringlet to the lunchtime tally along with several more Smessex and Meadow Browns. Having picked my carefully around, stepping over and through the loops of Bramble tendrils flaying about like the tentacles of a beast set to catch unwary travellers I found yet more Smessex but also a brace of Marbled Whites and a Small White which for once was still enough for long enough to not just approach but also photograph.

I kept to the narrowest of tracks through the thistles and worked round and through the treeline to the corner of the field. Things started to quiet down now and I was left with only a Meadow Brown or two for company. Because of this I worked my way back along the margins of the Pits and cut back in on the far side (from the school) of the Bramble Bush finding a Hedgie as I did so. It wouldn’t be the last which was lucky as it played hard to get, keeping to the shadows further back in the hedge and seldom venturing out within reach of my lens. At the Pits I plonked myself down by a group of Creeping Thistles and waited to see what would come to me. This turned into a great little spot and over the next couple of minutes I was witness to 2 Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns scattered about here and there, a few Hedgies and the star of the show –a definite Essex amid the Smessex. He was a cheeky and chonky little chappy and made the visit with subsequent itchy seeds in my shoes well worthwhile. The walk back through the remains of the Pits towards the school produced more of the same and as I stepped out to the shorn turf a Marbled Whites flew past wishing me adieu.

Hot and dry, dry, dry
Grasses no longer lush green
Brown to orange now
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Hi! Wurzel, when I used to go to Gait Barrow's to watch for the High Brown Frits, I'd see these huge Dragon Flies chasing them, I've never been too keen on Dragon Flies since then Love the Skipper shots Wurzel, I've always to guess if I've taken an Essex shot Goldie.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Goldie If they're not males or you if they are and you can't see the upper side of the wings the trick is too look at the antennae. A flick out and orange indicators = Small, rounded tips and ink dabs = Essex. I often just go with Smessex to cover all bases

Have a goodun

Wurzel